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End of Year Message from the Director
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The 2017-18 school year was a fantastic one for the Bunche Center! We hosted the first HBCU Symposium on Study Abroad, launched our Russia 101 series, sent over 100 students abroad for a semester or more for the very first time, and welcomed MP David Lammy of the UK to campus during our conference “Global Perspectives on Police, Law & Society: Common Ties Across Communities of Color”.
We have been actively advocating for more students of color to study abroad, not just at Howard, but across the country. We hosted the Washington Area Study Abroad Network’s (WASAN) quarterly meeting at the Center for the first time. And we are leading discussions with our international education colleagues at various conferences, around ways to make studying abroad an even more enriching experience for everyone, focusing specifically on the intragroup dynamics of the students coming from the US to the destination country. We entered into new partnerships with universities in Ghana and Colombia and welcomed the Center for African Studies as our new officemates!
As summer approaches we look forward to welcoming the newest cohorts of the Donald M. Payne and Charles B. Rangel Graduate Fellows and Rangel Scholars (undergraduates) to campus. We will also look forward to checking off A LOT of things from our to-do list!! We will only publish one newsletter over the summer, but we’ll be back strong in the Fall when we gear up for our Year of Colombia! Until then...Enjoy your break!
Globally
,
Tonija Hope Navas
Director
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- Center Highlights
- Coming Up
- Bunche Center Shoutout
- HU Bison Abroad Updates
- Reflections from Abroad
- Opportunities for Students
- Opportunities for Faculty
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Miami, FL. was the site of this year’s Diversity Abroad Conference and the Bunche Center was fortunate to have three staff members participate as presenters. Our presentations focused on inclusive excellence, advising for a diverse student population, and research on diversity & inclusion in international education. Prior to the main conference we participated in the MSI Summit and had the opportunity to have focused conversations on study abroad at HBCUs and other minority serving institutions. We look forward to continuing to engage with our colleagues around the issue of diversity in study abroad.
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Forum on Education Abroad
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Prior to the start of the Forum on Education Abroad conference in Boston, MA, Director, Tonija Navas, and Dr. Keshia Abraham
(formerly of Florida Memorial University)
, Director of Strategic Initiatives for CIEE, one of our study abroad partners, conducted a pre-conference workshop focused on the HBCU experience in study abroad. The 4-hour workshop was an opportunity to share with our colleagues from across the US, perspectives on international education from HBCUs. Meaningful conversations and reflections among all participants were a highlight of this session and we look forward to continuing to engage in this important dialogue.
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Baltimore Area International Educators Spring Meeting
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The Baltimore Area International Educators Association (BAIE) invited Director Tonija Hope Navas to serve as Keynote speaker at their Spring meeting on April 11th at Morgan State University. Director Navas' presentation "Creating 'We-ness' and Erasing 'They-ness'" focused on sharing the student perspective on the challenges of intragroup dynamics that African-American students face in study abroad programs and how they can be addressed by the wider IE community. Also invited to speak on a panel about student safety and security abroad was Study Abroad Program Manager MaRaina Montgomery, who discussed the efforts she has been making to enhance safety protocols for HU Bison Abroad. Thanks to the BAIE for inviting us to participate in such a timely and necessary gathering.
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I
t's that time of year again! Accepted Students Day took place on April 20th with thousands of students and families in attendance to learn about all that Howard has to offer. The Bunche Center joined several other departments on campus in Blackburn to share the exciting opportunities students can access via our office. As we push for our goal to raise the number of students we send abroad to 10% by 2020, we recognize that early exposure to the possibility of a global experience and early access to the tools and resources they need to get there is vital. We look forward to meeting our baby Bison next semester and working with them to kickstart their global education here at Howard.
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Study Abroad Pre-Departure Events
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Summer and fall 2018 HU Bison Abroad students took part in a series of pre-departure workshops that spanned April 16th-25th. Each evening, students learned about and discussed topics that were practical and philosophical in nature. As the number of Howard students who elect to study abroad continues to increase, the Study Abroad Program Manager, Maraina Montgomery, an HU alum, is increasingly motivated to develop new and creative events for the purpose of empowering, preparing, and inspiring Howard students to maximize the study abroad experience and its personal and social impact.
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*CLICK PHOTO BELOW FOR LINK TO CONFERENCE WEBPAGE*
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CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE WINNERS OF THE INAUGURAL 2018
FUND FOR EDUCATION ABROAD
Howard University Scholarship for HBCU Students
Through a generous donation from President and Mrs. Frederick and Howard University, the Fund for Education Abroad established this fund exclusively for students at HBCUs to allow them to further their study abroad goals. To contribute to the fund, please visit
www.fundforeducationabroad.org
!
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Howard University
Oaxaca, Mexico
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North Carolina A&T State University
Chile
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Albany State University
Trinidad & Tobago
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A PILGRIMAGE HOME:
My Historic Trip to Ghana
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by Kwame Kareem Banahene Crawford
B.A. International Affairs '19; B. Economics '20
2017 Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar; Petty Officer Third Class, United States Navy
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August 21st,1:30AM, a Royal Air Morocco flight touches down in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. After twenty-one years and three days of travel across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans later, I could for the first time say I was home. By now I was used to Naval service coming first, and this arrival was no different. With classes beginning that day, I arrived feeling pressed for time; not uncommon with work, school, and the Navy on my plate in Washington. Thankfully, Uncle Clemence and Kwesi from the University of Ghana were there to meet me on arrival. A part of me felt bad that I had kept them up at an hour when the city was so quiet. Through customs and out of the “arrival” exit, I quickly came to my wits about where I was when a policeman threatened to boot and tow the university vehicle for stopping in a cab zone unless a few American dollars came his way.
My other colleagues from Howard had arrived a week ahead of me and had already become more acclimated to the slower and calmer pace of life in Accra. Yet shock had already set in for many who now found themselves managing with the nuances of culture, cuisine, language, comfort, individual perceptions and the Ghanaian world view. I knew I had much catching up to do, and fast! I have grown accustomed to adapting to new places and people, having relocated regularly and traveled quite a bit on my own, so I didn’t figure it would be of much concern. Nevertheless, after the airport scene I knew I was out of my element and that living in Accra would take some time getting used to.
After a few days rushing to get settled, I phoned my father who - lucky for me - is from Ghana and lives in Kroboland in the Eastern Region province of Somanya. We Krobos are Ga Adangbe people, known for beautifully designed glass beads, called Krobo beads. It wasn’t until about three weeks into my arrival that I traveled to meet my family for the first time, marking one of the most significant points in my pilgrimage. All my life I wondered about my heritage, a family that I always knew I had, who asked of me, but whom I was never certain I would actually meet.
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When in Accra, I took every chance I could to go out, often exploring the allies and crevices of Tema, Madina, Agbogboleshi Market, and little hole in the wall shops with high fashion, local culture and eats. The use of Uber in Ghana was reminiscent of the freedom I had to drive myself wherever I wanted back home. My father, now in his 60’s, drove out to Accra to pick me up from the University of East Legon and we made our way back fairly late. I learned that night that no one should drive at night unless they really have to, but especially not out to the country. The roads we took had crater-sized potholes like an IED had gone off, were unpaved in many places, and were used by drivers racing at high speeds. This combination did not mix well.
When day broke, I met Grace Kwametsu, the matriarch of the family at 103 years strong. She’d broken her leg a few months back and was healing well enough to walk by the next time I saw her. We met at her family home where I learned the history of my lineage spanning two centuries and house to go along with it. My great grandfather, after whom I am named, was an Arab Fulani slave sold to my family for marriage. My grandfather was a Chief and my grandmother a Queen Mother. Once upon a time, I was told that they were cocoa farmers who sold chocolate to Mr. Hershey, of Hershey, Pennsylvania. I learned of my family's humble beginnings, ascendency to Chieftaincy, and their life thereafter. I met uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors and the Sub-Chief of Somanya - a friend of my father.
Everywhere I went they had already known of me, yet I knew nothing of them. Each place I visited I was welcomed with warmth, food and my favorite beer. Apparently, the offering of a beer is a common greeting at times like these. The sailor in me is always happy to see a beer, but the hospitality and ease of connection and contentment, even at times when the differences of language was a challenge, was even more inviting. I have been many places in the world and around the US, yet of all the places I have been, including the city in which I was born, Ghana has felt most like home.
In part, due to the scholarship that was awarded to me by the Gilman International Scholarship program, funded by U.S. Department of State and my honor and service to the U.S. Navy, I would not have been able to fund my long-awaited pilgrimage home. There I stood as an Ambassador for diverse ideas and cross-cultural exchange. This withstanding, had I traveled to Ghana without first having come to Howard, I am not sure the experience would have been as intimate for me as it was. Having grown up outside my ancestral culture, without an appreciation for my African identity, my three years in the Howard University community opened my eyes to the struggles of the African-American community, and the culture I had failed to fully embrace as a child raised in a diverse community. I have met so many brilliant, beautiful brothers and sisters from all around the United States and from all over the world at Howard. I often tell people that being at Howard has allowed me to explore and find my own place in the Black community. I am proud of the heritage that we as black people have not only in this country but around the world! I am glad that my personal, spiritual, and cultural pilgrimage home to Ghana was as a son of Howard University. It was made all the more fulfilling after three-years of study in classes taught by Professors like Dr.’s Shams, Carr, Araujo, Nwanze, Mensah, Brown, and many others who have imparted their collective wisdom, unique perspective, and shared their struggles with us as students. It is at Howard that I have begun to embrace my Black and African identities, that for so long I have felt separated from. I find strength in my ancestors, and more comfort in the space I have always occupied in the world. I am who I am because of the collective lives that have supported and raised me along the way, and Howard University has shared in that too.
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The HU Bison Abroad Program is determined to send 10% or more of the undergraduate student body abroad by 2020!
Why is this our goal, you may ask? Because it is understood that studying abroad is one of the most meaningful opportunities afforded to Howard students of all majors and impacts their personal, academic, and professional growth- forever.
To reflect these values, we have created two hashtags to proclaim that study abroad is definitely for Howard students, despite the national data that reflects African-American students' lack of participation. These hashtags are #HUbisonabroad and #studyabroadsoblack and I invite you, to be a part of this movement!
--
MaRaina Montgomery, Study Abroad Manager, HU '06
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
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The 2018 Summer and Fall applications might be closed, but you can still start planning ahead for Spring, Summer & Fall 2019.
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FIND OUT ABOUT FINANCIAL RESOURCES
HERE &
HERE
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Click below to access our
Travel. Work. Study.
Resource Magazine
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OPPORTUNITIES FOR FACULTY
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for resources on
* Faculty Development Seminars
* Global Program Development,
* International Capacity Building
& More.
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